The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-05-21
LITTLE DICK.
A Story OF War Times.
BY MONTGOMERY NJ. FOLSOM.


Poor old Widow Loring! A hard
time she had OF it. Her husband, q
rowdy and the bully Of the settlement,
had given up the ghost some years
prior to the breaking out OF the war,
and left her with five sons and one
frail daughter, to the mercies OF
cold and cruel world.
"Aunt Nina" we were taught to
call her, was agaunt and grizzled spec
linen OF cracker woman, uncouth in
dress, uncultured in speech, but
,truer, drawer heart never upheld the
honest dignity OF motherhood than
the scared and oft griefstricken heart
ohAunt Nina Loring.
She had had trouble when her hus-
band was alive. She had spent many
a sleepless night when her neglectful
lord was INDUCING in the wild orgies
OF the crossroads grocery's biggest
carousal. Every time the owl would
boot from his perch in the great pine
tree in the lonely woods her heart
would leap and she would expect to
hear the rough "hellol" at the gate
from some drunken companion come
to tell her that Ebenezer was killed or
badly hurt.
~ Not unirequently she would be
greeted instead with. "a kick at the rough
shutter, and demand to open it,
coupled with muttered curses, when the
old man came home drunk.
It was almost betterment to Aunt
Nina when Ebenezer fell sick, and
laid down III his bed and died, while
she was near to minister to his wants.
1t was q partial relief to her to feel
that she had the poor consolation OF
closing those bleared eyes when the
ashen pallor OF death smoothed out
the scars and splotches on that
bearded face, and the snowy pinion
OF the spirit OF peace at last touched
those features so long scanned and
iurrowed by warning passions.
OF the boys, there was young Eben,
hale and hearty, the image OF his
father, when first Aunt Nina danced
with him at the party after the quilt
ing and log rolling day, so long ago.
Mack came next, O. stout comely lad,
very much reserved, and almost in
dustrious. Riley was tall and slen'
der, like his mother in form, but like
his father, wild sort OF fellow in dis
position. Hamp came fourth among
the boys, but Betty was older than
nc. Uamp was d blockheaded, stupid
sort Of lad, fond Of trapping for birds
and fishing in Grand bay, as the big
black swamp, back of the little plan
tation, was called. And then, there
was Little Dick.
need not tell you that the hog
weeds and the fennels and the black
berry briars covered the greater part
- the little clearing among the swamps
and barrens. Elbenezer had started
out with big heart, and had fenced in q
farm OF forty acres, and he had Guilt
waited it several years in the slovenly,
ranger fashion, but after he whipped
the Irish ditcher, who challenged him
for fisticuf muster day, he began to
feel his Importance, and the neglect OF
the farm and the running about with
shiftless and brawllng companions
Soon proved disastrous to the farm
interests.
Aunt Nina and the boys tried to
cultivate the ground IAN make a
crap" as they said, but their efforts
we're rendered abortive by the frequen-
cy with which the old man snapped
iorses. Sometimes he would swap
"a spawned horse in pillow time,
a then there was moth
for It but the hoe. Poor
mani The drops OF sweat with
ioh she watered that barren soil,
4 the tears with which she watered
rdreary lifel -.
When the war come Eben, Mack and
ley had all grown up to manhood,
ID might have supported their moth
handsomely, but their fathers shift
IS career seemed to initiate against
hem, and they generally came out at
he end Of the year with scarce nub,
bin corn enough for bread. and
he yellow COW peas, and tine
triney potatoes were hardly equal TO
ne emergency OF Strengthening out the
can TANKS OF the few bundles OF bone
| and bristle, known as 'piney-woods
u>nters," and sometimes mistaken
oes. =,
ertheless, by the aid Of the good